Bound by Fate
by WynterRavenheart
Summary: Fluff and romance story. This is what happens when Fate decides to give Harry a little treat for christmas, includes Overlapping Realities, an overprotective father and a Dark Lord with personality issues HP/TR
1. Chapter 1

**Tittle**: Reality it's Fate's bitch.  
**Notes**: Any Grammar or Spelling mistakes does not belong to the author, they came from a third, totally unrelated party.

**Ch. 01 - So you're having problems with your teenage son. A guide to parental counselling.**

Let's start the re-tale of this story by saying that, despite people wanting to believe otherwise, there are thousands of parallel universes similar to this one. Some where magic isn't real, some where the 70's fashion never really left. And some that differ very little from each other, a birthday for example. The two universes we're exploring now are only different because of the birth day of one Tom Marvolo Riddle, in the first universe he was born on December 31st, 1926. In the other, December 31st, 1979. Its amazing really how just the year can drastically change one reality from another... But enough of that. Lets start our tale by checking the first Reality. It was 2 weeks until Christmas Holidays and one Harry James Potter had just received a timed letter from his mother, he was in the 5th year and he was not having a good time in school right now...

_My dear Harry,_

_If you're reading this I am, probably dead, or if I'm alive I probably forgot to destroy this, you have no idea how much your mother can be forgetful at times. But enough of that, I'm writing for a much more important reason._

_As you've probably been told, I was married to James Potter. I come now to tell you that it isn't true, while our marriage was fake, I was married to your true father. If, by some odd reason, he kept his façade, you must hate him now, but I beg you to reconsider... My dear baby, your father goes by the name of Severus Tobias Snape._

_I know it is a shock to read that, but I assure you it's true._

_James Potter and I were nothing but friends and he came forth and helped your father and I when I became pregnant with you. You, my dear, are under a glamour. It will not 'wear out' when you reach your 16th birthday or any sort of nonsense like that. What we gave you, so you would look like James was a little surgery on your right hand, as you've probably notice on the pinky finger you have a mole on the inside._

_It will probably hurt a bit but inside the mole there a tiny bronze charm, as soon as you remove it you should return to your true appearance._

_The reason I'm telling you this now, it's because I'm sure you're old enough to understand why Severus, James and I had to make this huge sacrifice._

_I beg you to please, please give your father a chance of getting to know you, to explain things if needed be._

_Don't forget that I'll always love you, no matter what happens._

_Lily Snape  
09/29/1981_

Harry had to read the letter two times before the information finally sunk in and he went into a dead faint. Only to be found by one Neville Longbottom 10 minutes later and brought to the infirmary.

X-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Now that we all saw the first reality, the second might be a bit of a shock. Here it was also 2 weeks until Christmas Holidays, but instead of the depressed teen we left in a dead faint in the Hogwarts infirmary on our first Reality, this one was laying in bed reading, or as much reading as one could do in the current position...

Harry stared at the fingers encasing him in the warmth that was Tom, his Tom.

Tom was laying against the headboard, a mountain of pillows making the hard wood unnoticeable to him, laying on his stomach was the most beautiful person he had ever seen, Harry. Hadrian Antares Snape. With the sharp aristocratic features of his father – minus the nose – and the delicacy of his mother – plus her eyes – Harry was easily the most beautiful boy he had ever laid eyes on.

He hid a smile as he felt and saw Harry playing with his fingers, which were crossed over his stomach, the Defence book lay on page 56 for the past 40 minutes, untouched, both boys unable to read it, being too distracted by the other to fully concentrate on studying.

In a matter of days Tom would have his 16th birthday, and really, the only ones he wanted to share it with was Harry and his uncle Severus. Aunt Lily had died a few years ago when both of them were 12 and while the three of them missed her greatly, for the two boys it was overshadowed by time and the new love they found in each other.

Nuzzling Harry's cheek with his slightly cold nose, coercing him into a more comfortable position where Tom could kiss his check better, he gave a weary sigh.

"I have to go back to Slytherin dorms." he whispered, it was late, almost curfew, and as much as he hated, he needed to get back.

"Already? Spend the night?" he begged in the slightly put out, pitiful yet hopeful voice he knew Tom always fell for.

"Harry... you know we can't... Your father would have me expelled if he found me." he stared at his green-eyed love, trying to make him understand.

"Bollocks, dad would do no such thing." Harry glared, entwining his fingers with Tom's before giving the boy a brilliant smile as an idea hit him. "Tom... you remember the charm Dad taught us this summer?" Without waiting for a reply he sent his Guardian Messenger to his father.

Both boys knew that the next day Severus would most likely have their hides for that one, but now it was not the time to think of future punishments.

"Fine" He sighed, knowing from the moment Harry had used that voice that he was done for "Anyway, what do you think of the name Voldemort?" Tom asked, hugging his Harry tighter and kissing his cheek.

"What does it mean?" he closed he book, levitating the heavy 400-something paged book to the night stand and closing the curtains, adding a few good hexes to anyone who tried to disturb them before 7am.

"Flight of Death"

"No." he shock his head while Tom put the pillows around them forming the cocoon they had at home.

"Why not?"

"It's unimaginative, pictures you as afraid of dying and therefore weak, and... I don't like it." He shrugged, adding two more blankets to hide them from the biting cold.

"So, just because you don't like it I'll have to think of another one?" came the amused reply from beyond the curtains where Tom had gone to brush his teeth for the night.

"Pretty much, if you don't I'll just have to start calling you Betelgeuse."

"Betelgeuse?"

"Second biggest and brightest star we know of." he shrugged again, going to brush his teeth before going back to bed and laying against Tom.

"Fine, I'll think of something. Impudent brat." came the amused reply, just before the two boys settled for the night. Tom spooning Harry from behind and Harry with his fingers entwined between the older boys'.

X-x-x-x-x-x

Meanwhile one Severus Snape glared at the tiny thunder dragon and its rider, as if everything was his fault. He didn't take well to Tom and Harry getting together, the boy was Slytherin's heir and he was after his son! His baby!! Of course, it didn't help that Harry was after Tom with the same obsession, determination and – Merlin forbid – love, the other felt.

But, he would deal with them tomorrow. Tonight he settled for glaring at the message the dragon had delivered.

_'Dad, Tom's sleeping in the Gryffindor dormitories tonight, no we're not doing anything naughty, no we're not kissing nor hexing the other students, just studying and spending time together. Honestly!'_

**A/N:** I have this one mostly ready, so I'll be posting a chapter a day if my computer doesn't fail on me. Also, this is fluff, pure fluff just to treat you all to a fluffy christmas (does that make any sense?). And yes, both Harrys do have a mole on the inside of their left pink finger, just like the author.


	2. Chapter 2

**Ch02 - "I don't need you"**

Harry groaned as ever so slowly he woke up. The bright, blinding lights of the infirmary making his eyes hurt.

Blinking a few times he discovered 4 shapes around his bed, one of which seemed made entirely of black. Harry groaned again, closing his eyes, he knew exactly who it was.

Reaching for his glasses on the night stand he looked around the room. Hermione and Ron were sleeping in the chairs beside him, Dumbledore stood to the side, the big blurry shape turning out to be the Headmaster with the resident mediwitch. And lastly, the last person he wanted to see, Severus Snape.

The person his mother had married, the person she loved, the person who loved her enough to agree to hide their relationship with the help of his nemesis, the person she had a child with.

And the person who wanted nothing to do with himself.

Harry looked down, rubbing his nose and trying to keep the tears from falling. 'Sorry mother, but I can't forgive him... if you're watching, please forgive me, but I cannot forgive this... this man.' he thought, finally lifting up his head so he could look at Professor Snape in the eye. Reaching for his letter and holding it tenderly in his hands he asked the question that plagued his mind.

"Is it true?"

"Is what true?" came the ever faithful sneer, reserved for one Harry James Potter.

"The timed-letter mother sent me." He looked up, giving the headmaster a sad smile as the older male came up to bed.

Severus just remained quiet, his lily had sent their child a letter then, a letter probably telling him who his real father really was. He felt a migraine coming as he pinched the bridge of his nose. A tiny flame of hope that he could have Harry back also came from the ashes of his heart. He would have his little Hadrian back...

"Yes, it is true."

"Okay... what's my real name then? She didn't mention it." came the flat voice, that Severus either didn't notice or refused to acknowledge.

"Hadrian Antares Snape."

Harry nodded, it wasn't a bad name, weird yes with the whole middle name of Antares of all, at least it wasn't Adrastos like one of the under classmates. "I see... could you please get out?" came the flat voice again.

"Excuse me?" Severus asked in a slightly raised voice.

"Harry? Are you all right?" Came the concerned voice of the headmaster. All this time he had said nothing, waiting for his two children to realize what sort of magic there was between them. He was apprehensive yes of Harry's flat tone, maybe he thought he didn't need a father?

"Get out! I don't want to see you, get out!!" Came the anguish cry, immediately drawing he attention of Madam Pomphrey. Who just as soon as she saw Harry going into a state of emotional breakdown poured a glass of Calming Draught and sent the 2 adults out, with a promise that they could come back later... eventually.

Inside the infirmary, the read-head and the muggleborn witch beside Harry had jumped into awareness at the sound of screaming. And were trying to get the boy to talk to them.

"Harry? What is it? Madam Pomphrey said you fainted from shock."

"Yeah mate, what happened? Was it... Was it you-know-who again?" he whispered the last part, so only the three teens heard it.

Harry just shock his head, the calming draught making his sleepy. And unable to get angry at his sperm donor. Because that was what Professor Snape was to him now, nothing but his sperm donor.

On the verge of sleep – yet again – he withdrew the old parchment from his robe, handing it to Hermione.

"A timed letter from my mother. And Snape just confirmed it's all true." he gave her a biter smile, rolling over and trying to sleep. Not wanting to show his friends a defeated face.

Soon enough the two exclamations of "Oh my" from Hermione and "Merlin's left soggy ball..." from Ron. But Harry barely heard them, staring into space as he tried to forget the letter.

X-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

In another Reality, a few universes away...

The light was making itself known to the two teens in bed, frowning heavily at the rays of sunlight entering their cocoon, Harry turned over, snuggling to the warm body next to him. In his sleep-induced stage, he didn't question it's presence.

Tom Riddle on the other hand, once he opened his eyes to the string of light coming from the wrong end of the bed, couldn't quite go back to sleep, he settled for waking up, the close warmth of a body making him irritable already. _'I swear, if Victorya is in my bed again I'm hexing her to the end of her miserable life.'_ he thought. Growling at the thought of the pureblood gold-digger that was, apparently, after his inheritance.

So he was pleasantly surprised when he saw the mop of black, shiny – thought sometimes mistaken for greasy – hair instead of the blond one he was expecting. Checking under the blankets he was faintly amused at the wet spot of drool beneath Harry's mouth._ 'My poor darling, he must have been exhausted.'_

He smiled sleepily at Harry's sleeping form, running his hands over the leg thrown over his body. _'Merlin... if Severus caught us like this...'_ he grinned, suddenly very much awake. Gathering the sleeping form of Harry in his arms and grinning like the cat that go the canary, he proceeded to wake up the sleeping beauty on top of him.

X-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"What the hell were you thinking?!" The voice of Severus Snape echoed through the dungeons, his son sat in front of him, glaring at the floor as if it has personally insulted him. "What were you thinking Hadrian? Blatantly disrespecting the rules and bringing not only your boyfriend but Slytherin's heir into your room... The Slytherin's are chronically insane Hadrian, he could have done anything with you!" he hissed, so focused on his anger that he missed the look of hurt that passed over Harry's features.

"No, he wouldn't! Tom loves me as much as I love him! He would never do anything to hurt me, physically or emotionally!"came the shouted reassurance that Harry did in fact, love his most gifted, intelligent, possibly insane and into the dark-arts student.

He growled, surreptitiously getting his wand from inside his robe. It wasn't possible for Harry to fall in love with Tom, it went against every logical reasoning! They hated each other! Always had! From the first time they met in January of 1991 until...

He snarled in his son's direction, making the teen sit up and glare at his father. Was it possible that Tom had dosed Harry with some sort of love potion? He would never stand up to him if that wasn't the case! Before he could fully think it through his wand was pointed at Harry shouting an incantation he very rarely used on students.

"_Philtrum Acclaro"_ he shouted, the sickly yellow hitting his son in the forehead. It was followed by the door being opened and the person he did NOT want or needed to see right now followed by Minerva, his son's head of house.

He barely heard the shouts of 'Severus' or 'Harry', intend on looking at the results of the spell. When the only thing that came forth was the white light that indicated that nothing was out of the ordinary, only then he took the situation for that it was.

Tom Riddle was trying to calm a petrified Harry while McGonagall had him in magically restraining robes.

"Harry, Harry talk to me, please. Darling please." he heard the spawn of Slytherin mutter to his son, his little baby!

"He... he turned his wand on me Tom." came the awed yet pitiful whisper of his son. Turn his wand on him? He did no such thing! He...

"It's ok my darling, I'm with you all the way remember? Remember when I told you I would never leave you alone?"

Severus saw his son reach forward to the other boy, hugging him as if his life depended on it. He could remember a time when it was him Harry turned to, of course Harry was little but it hardly mattered.

What mattered was that the Slytherin spawn was clearly stealing Harry from him!!! The shock was enough to prevent him from noticing Minerva giving his son a sleeping draught. He only came out of his shock when the hesitant voice of Minerva McGonagall filled the air.

"Harry? Tom?"

X-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Severus was pacing, he was alone in the lab wondering how Po-Har... how his son was copping with the news, clearly he didn't want Severus there right now, and he would bet that Weasley was filling his head with more horror stories.

Finally coming to terms with his own mind Severus walked into the infirmary, spotting his son alone, in the middle of the bed. He sighed, remembering the last time he spotted the mop of black hair. Harry was one, sleeping with Lily and himself in their bed due to having a stomach ache. He could barely believe he was capable of bringing life to such a precious being such as his little Hadrian, and now, he couldn't fathom why he let Dumbledore take him away from his arms.

"Harry?" he whispered, sitting besides his son, not wanting to wake him up but wanting to let the burden out of his chest.

And he did, starting with the day he was born, how he had almost throttled the mediwitch that was not taking away his mother's pain and how he actually did hug her when he held him for the first time. How he used to wake up at exactly 3am every night for two months and feed him, his first word – which was 'up' – how Harry managed to get into mischief at an early age and how he almost had a heart attack when he found his little boy on his lab, on top of ledge reaching for the basilik fangs, and how Lily used to tell him stories at night to help him sleep.

As the circumstances would have it, Harry heard none of it, waking up only minutes after Severus had finished his speech.

"What are you doing here?" came the slurred voice.

"I wanted to talk to you Harry."

A sigh was heard and the rustle of covers as Harry sat up.

"I don't need you." Came the quiet reply, Severus having to strain his hearing to make out the words.

"Excuse me?"

"I don't need you, I know why you're doing this but I'll have you know what I don't need it."

Another sigh as Severus tried to be comfortable for this conversation. He wasn't ready for this... "And, why do you think I'm doing this?"

Harry shrugged, looking at the white sheets. "I think you might feel guilty that mother wrote to me, I realize that you don't want me, and after mother and James died you didn't want the responsibility of a child. I gather that, so I want you to know that I don't need you. You can go back to your own world, I don't mind."

"Harry... I've never..."

"Save it professor" came the tired voice, as Harry turned away, Severus was afraid that it may be for life. "You didn't want the responsibility, the burden of a child." Severus could clearly hear the whispers of _'you didn't want me'_ but he was helpless to stop the child from talking. "I understand that, honestly. I really don't need you professor, you can go back to your world and I'll be back to mine. Just... would you mind if I removed the glamours?"

The hope in that last sentence made Severus heart break as the shock his head. He was just about to try and talk sense into the stupid, selfless Gryffindor when his son went into a hapless mess of convulsing boy right there in front of him.

"Harry? Harry!"

X-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

A few miles south of Hogwarts, a certain returned-from-the-dead Dark Lord was having the same problem. As Fate would have it, there was no one else present at Malfoy Manor this time of the day...

[[The spell means 'reveal a potion' in this case, specifically love potions.

_A/N: Now I know many of you might be screaming bloody murder to Severus at turning his wand on Harry. But Severus is human, he's also a parent and therefore prone to mistake, what he did was a terrible mistake, not some form of long-suffering abuse. About the second Harry, instead of righteous anger, he's trying to keep Severus from his duty as parent, also shielding himself from even more hurt as if often happen with neglected children_


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: So, so SO sorry for the delay, my computer decided it would be funny to attack my odt files with a virus... So I had to write it all over again, so this, will probably take way more time to finish then I anticipated... grumbles **  
**

**Ch. 03 - "So... we are sharing a minds now?"**

"I see... Okay, so... oh my, yes! That's it!" the seemingly human female jumped around the mighty tree, nearly knocking the 5-Dimension chessboard in which she moved her players.

"What are you up to sister?" Came the amused voice of the lady near the lake, she was carrying a bucket full of crystal-clear water, which she promptly proceeded to water the huge tree with.

"Nothing at all 'Dandi. Just giving our favourite wizard a christmas gift." The white-haired lady said, carefully picking up two dolls named Hadrian Snape in which one of them had a lightning shaped scar on the forehead and two named Tom Riddle one picturing a 16 year old, the other a man that resembled a snake more than a proper human. In a matter or seconds the soul-glow that usually surrounded the dolls was focused on one doll for each wizard. The double soul-light concentrating on the lightning Harry and the snake-like Tom.

As she looked at the souls temporary merging, the woman, also known as the Fate Goddess Urd, grinned at her chessboard, very, very pleased with herself.

Behind the huge tree a little girl appeared. A wizard might claim it was apparition, but there wasn't the telltale 'crack' that went with it. The little girl walked to the other two women, handing each of them a golden round fruit.

"What is she doing 'Dandi?"

"I'm not sure yet Skuld, she said something about a Christmas gift to our favourite wizard." She shrugged, there were so many realities that she would have to ask Urd about which wizard she meant...

X-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

When Harry, finally woke up, it was to the shrieks of one of his house mates, he refuse to understand what she was talking about, but honestly, this was the infirmary! Why was Hermione shrieking to begin with?! Plus, he wasn't a morning person, unless he had spent the night with Tom. And where was Tom anyway? The last time he was in the infirmary his... boyfriend _'God, how I hate that word! Sounds so childish!'_ had refused to leave his side, even missing a few days of class.

As the loud voices reached a new decibel Hadrian Snape decided to show the world he was not, in fact, dead or passed out and that they were the responsible ones for getting him out of the comfortable slumber. Throwing the covers back in a way that reminded many in the room of Severus Snape, Harry turned to the party throwing a Death Glare at all the occupants.

"What the seven layers of hell do you miscreants think you're doing?! This is the bloody infirmary! This means quiet! And you woke me up, you bloody idiots!" he finished the little speech in a harsh tone, making the older read headed woman flinch.

He surveyed the room, his father was in a corner with his usual stony mask, but the green-eyed youth could definitely see that he was in mild shock, the Weasleys were there for some reason or other (he guessed one of the children was also in the infirmary), Hermione was in the corner looking at him as if he had grown a second head and the headmaster was looking mildly worried, his twinkle barely diminished, but Harry guessed that, since the damn twinkle came from a sugar high it must be wearing off.

And Tom was nowhere to be seen, the bloody fucker.

"Well? Speak up! What the bloody hell do you think you were doing causing a ruckus in the infirmary while I was asleep?!"

In the following minutes Hadrian deeply regretted telling all of them to speak up, for what followed was a mess so big that he decided he should have just asked his father. Ronald's mother was speaking, Ronald's sister – and his groupie – was also speaking, Hermione decided to tell him what happened at the same time and there was no one stopping the noise.

He rubbed his temples tiredly. Blindly reaching for his wand and casting a silencing spell on the group, much to the amusement of his father and the chagrin of the red-headed family. Looking at his father with a pleading look that was completely ignore – but he supposed he should have expected that, after what happened at the lab – he finally spoke.

"Dad? What happened? Why am I here and where's Tom?" Oh he was fully aware that he was whining at the end, but he missed the presence, the magic that the other boy had, enveloping him in a cocoon of warmth as it often did. Even if he was at the other side of the castle.

He guessed his magic did the same for Tom if the mild look of contentment was anything to go by. But that only meant that his beloved was not anywhere near the castle! Where was he?

It was the headmaster who answered however, as his father was looking at him like his prayers had just been answered when he said 'dad'.

"Tom? What Tom, Harry?"

It was Harry's turn to look at the headmaster as if he had grown a second head.

"You know... Tom." Seeing the confusion he elaborated, even if he thought that the headmaster really should know who Tom was, he chose him for prefect for Merlin's sake! "Tom Riddle? Slytherin's poster boy? The prefect you chose instead of the Malfoy left over? Oh for the love of...! The man I intent to marry one day even if my father disowns me! Oh come on! You know who I'm talking about!"

X-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Severus stared in amazed shock as Harry said the Dark Lord's name, as Harry claimed that he was going to eventually bond with the snake-faced man... he refused to show the growing horror at that statement. The blood pounded on his ears as he replayed the sentence time and time again.

_'Even if my father disowns me!'_

It couldn't be true, there just HAD to be something wrong with his son! Briefly looking at the other occupants of the room he decided to wait for the Headmaster's order to check for the Imperious, briefly forgetting that Hadrian was immune to it.

"What did you say?" came the unwilling words. Damn it all to hell, his son would NOT be bonding with the Dark Lord, even if he had to put Hadrian in a mental institution!!

His son looked like someone had threatened his life, and he had to wonder why, he had never raised his wand at him, except in Occlumency but that was excused, wasn't it? He saw Harry compose himself, looking at all the occupants of the infirmary before closing his eyes and sighing in exasperation.

"What the hell is wrong with you people?" He frowned, looking around, specially at the unwanted attention from the red headed clan. "I feel like I'm in the Twilight Zone or something, like honestly! You don't know who Tom is, how could you not know the Slytherin Prefect?" he huffed, and frowned – a frown awfully like Severus' own – in deep thinking.

It was, however, not to be, as he saw Albus work through what was most likely a puzzle.

"Harry, sorry, Hadrian, it's not that we don't know who Tom is, is more that we are surprised that you mentioned him, when was the last time you saw him?"

"Uh... today, right before lunch, daddy and I were discussing my relationship with Tom down in the lab and he pointed his wand at me." He frowned again, before looking at Severus with betrayal clearly in his eyes. "He used a spell to check if I was under the influence of a love potion. Which I told you I was not, but did you believe me? No you didn't. I thought you liked him!!!"

"Hadrian, Hadrian please calm down, ah we're going to check for memory charms on you if you'd let us."

The boy glared at the headmaster but sighed, "If you have to, go ahead."

"Severus if you'd please."

The potion master nodded, sitting on the bed by his son and looking at the boy, he couldn't wait to take off the damn charm and see his son for what he was really like.

He hoped to God that Hadrian didn't have his nose.

"He's not that bad you know, he cares for me and I know he loves me more than anything in the world."

"Really? How would you know?" He narrowed his eyes, ready to perform the spell as silent as possible and as painless as he could.

"I can feel it, his magic is always around me, almost like 24/7 protection." The boy smiled, and damn it! He wanted to be the one to make his little boy smile like that.

"You ready?" A nod, before he whispered "Legilimens" catching Hadrian in his arms as he sagged under the weight of his father's mind.

X-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

When Hadrian came around a second time, he noted with relief that his silencing charm was still working on the red headed clan, since the large woman was gesticulating furiously pointing at him and his father, Ronald was as red as a prime tomato and Hadrian wondered if they had forgotten they were, indeed, a wizards and could undo the spell.

His father was the first to notice he was awake again, and he looked at him seriously, or as serious as he could manage with his head on his lap and with the playing with his hair, which felt slightly different than before.

"Mister Snape, we have... we have bad news I'm afraid."

He frowned, he knew his father only called him Mister Snape when he wanted to emotionally distance himself from him, usually it happened during detention.

"I-We... The headmaster and I think an accident occurred. We don't know how it happened but, you, and possibly this Tom Riddle, ended up in our universe, joined soul and mind with the versions of you and the Dark Lord in this universe."

He tried to laugh it off, he really did, but the look on his father's face was not one of amusement, was not the one he used when making jokes.

So he nodded, feeling more alone than he had ever felt.

"In this... in this universe, in this reality, are you still my father? Is Tom still alive?"

He saw this version of his father smile – completely unaware that the rest of the crowd stared at the usually stoic man as he smiled contentedly at his son – his potion-stained fingers stroking through his hair in the soothing motions that always calmed him down.

"Yes, to both questions, thought there is something you must know." He paused, unsure of how to tell Hadrian his lover was 50plus years older than him and that he was an evil bastard for which he was a spy for. And that they were currently at war with him.

"Tom Riddle is... he's older than you, not by a year, not by five nor ten. In this reality he was born on December, 31st, 1926. And, here, he became a Dark Lord."

"A Dark Lord?"

"A Dark Lord..."

"What is his name?"

"V... Voldemort."

He nodded, lips pursuit in a fairly good imitation of Professor McGonnagal, the soothing caress stopped as the first snicker came out of his mouth, and soon enough the whole infirmary turned towards them as Hadrian Antares Snape begun laughing, laughing so hard that air was making itself scarce in his lungs and tears were showing in his eyes.

"The bloody fucker! Did he really went up with that name?!"

The laughter continued for a solid minute before he stopped, comfortably resting against Severus as he got himself under control. Looking up he was met with the puzzled expression of his father, or this version of his father, he reminded himself.

"Sorry, Tom he – my Tom that is – he asked what I thought of the name Voldemort for his alias, and I vetoed it, said it made him appear weak." he grinned, shaking his head at the irony of the universe.

"Say, could any of you tell me the history so far? And why is Ronald's mother looking like she's going to explode sometime soon? Assuming, of course, that she is his mother, not another sister. You never know with Weasleys..."

X-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Lucius Malfoy stared at his Lord. For once plain confusion showing on his face.

His Lord, he... well not that he looked different, more like, he felt different. Felt more, human maybe, and bit more approachable at least. So yes, Lucius was a bit confused, where did the mass murderer went? Where was his beloved psychopath?

Voldemort felt different, as he if couldn't decide in which mood to be.

"My Lord?"

"Yes, Lucius?"

And there was the difference! Usually, he would be answered with a Death Glare (TM). Not with a polite response!

"Ah..." he hesitates, simply to see if it would produce the Death Glare (TM), but when his Lord just sighed and went back to looking at the window, then he knew, he just knew that something went terribly wrong with his plans, maybe someone had poisoned the Dark Lord? Maybe Bella finally succeeded in getting Vol- The Dark Lord to drink a Love Potion unknowingly? "My Lord, is there anything wrong?"

"Yes. But nothing you should be concerned over. This is private."

"Of course, but, is there anything that you would like me to do?"

At this point Lucius knew, he just KNEW he should be getting the Crucio of his life, honestly, questioning his Lord like that, as he has been doing on and off for the past three and a half hours!

"Get me an owl, and do get out of my sight, you're getting more and more annoying by the second!" The snake-faced man replied, a shadow of his former, murderous, sociopath, short-tempered self. Not nearly enough to make Lucius comfortable with leaving the man by himself, but enough to know that he would, hopefully, get back to what he once was...

Oh and how he longed to be with the former face of his Lord, so beautiful, so right, he was like a god living among men, a mere glimpse was enough to "OW!" He screamed, as he felt his pert, perfect rounded and creamily-smooth Malfoy bottom being hit by a stinking hex, courtesy of his Lord. Who was looking far too smug for just hitting his arse like that!

"Get on with it Lucius, despite what you might believe, I do not have all day!"

"Of course, of course." the white-blond muttered, quickly getting out of the room, all the while protecting his bottom from more stray curses.

When he came back – after applying some salve to the burnt skin of course – it was to see Voldemort pacing up and down the room, looking more like a caged animal then an actual human being.

But then, since he came back, his Lord didn't look much like a human... He was so lost in his thoughts that he almost missed the whispering, it was like two people arguing, it sounded like two different people, but he knew there was only one in the living room, and the tone in which of them...

"... How could you be dating... HIM!? How dare you fall in love with the brat!" The hissed whisper, it was most definitely his Lord.

"What do you mean DARE? It's in our soul Voldemort, it's our destiny to be with him, the passion, the love, the care, it's entwined with the destiny line! All you had to do was look at your damn finger and see the magic threads connecting you to him! Damn it! Our magic works like a warmth cocoon around each other! Our very life source is entwined! " a younger voice... who could it be?

A snort (damn it! Even his snorts sounded like hisses!) and then.

"You know damn well I don't believe in this Tom."

Tom? So there was another person inside? But his wards didn't detect anything!

"You don't believe in a lot of things Voldemort, Love being one of them, and look where it ended you! You look like a hybrid between human and snake! Your very soul is torn apart. Face it, you are weak, you're so weak you can't even shut me up, can you?! You are so weak that it barely strains my magic to keep you caged."

A growl.

"When I get my hands on you Tom-" the beginning of the speech was cut of by was sounded like a gurgle, and then the younger voice begun again, less taunting and more serious than he could imagine a youngster to be.

"See what I mean, you don't give me any trouble with your current power. My love for him is stronger than whatever hate you may even think to feel. When I ended up here, and I saw you, I thought you would be a great wizard, like, controlling Wizarding Britain from the shadows." a brief pause in which Lucius thought the boy was shaking his head. "You're a disappointment to all of us Voldemort."

Another pause.

"Oh, don't you dare!" a shout before a five minute silence.

And then the hissing voice of his master again.

"Lucius, stop sleuthing around and bring me the damn owl! Or do I have to Crucio you to get some satisfactory results?!" the man snarled, his ruby-red eyes glinting with a new light.

Oh no, not the insanity light that he had seen even before the Potter-brat defeated his Lord, no, it was a light that men got when they got a purpose, a person to protect. Thought Lucius couldn't imagine who the unfortunate human being was.

"Please excuse my lateness master." He bowed, hopping against hope that he wouldn't thrown an unforgivable.

Instead the man nodded, dismissing the Malfoy patriarch with a glare.

And Lucius did, only to wait in the next room to try and glimpse what his Lord was up to. But he was only able to see his Lord dismissing the owl with a letter, something that might pass as a smile or even a fond look in his face, but with that sort of face you just never knew, did you?

X-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

And back to Hadrian, who was still in the Hogwarts infirmary, for god knows what reasons...

The, now-looking-properly-like-Severus'-heir boy was looking at all the faces in bewilderment.

"Let's see if I got it, you" pointed finger at Dumbledore "sent Harry to the Dursleys when he was barely one, with your" pointed finger at Severus "full consent because you were grieving?! And when he actually got here, with abuse marks" Severus flinched "and with no previous knowledge of magic whatsoever you actually treated him like a foul sock that personally offended you?" Hadrian asked in disbelief.

He felt the other mind, Harry, nodding in agreement, and he couldn't help but want to hug the poor kid, for Harry was a kid, even if they were basically the same age, and had the same soul.

"Huh, no offence professor, but, no wonder Harry hates you. It's like you went from salt to sugar in a period of five seconds, so really, don't expect him to understand any time soon." he shrugged.

It was in this brief period of silence in which Hadrian was giving Harry a mental hug and contemplating telling them about his own reality when the regal eagle-owl entered through the window, landing on the boy's knee and extending the letter from Tom, for he knew there was only one person with that signature.

"Tom Riddle?" Came the soft childish whisper from Harry inside his mind.

"Yes, but don't worry, he is not your Voldemort, quite different in fact." He whispered back, not aware that he had said it aloud, and that Severus did, indeed, hear him.

The letter merely said that they needed to talk, as in, now and that please to do not consider his appearance for it was quite changed for some reason.

As he was about to answer when the piece of parchment was torn from his hands, landing on Hermione's hand, and the on the Headmaster's hand, who was looking graver and graver by each syllable read.

"Mr. Snape, what is this?" Came the no-twinkle inquire.

"A letter from Tom, why?" he didn't wait for a response as he just made some movements with his wand, conjuring his lightning dragon and dragon rider.

"Tell him I'll meet him at the same place as always. Okay?" he smiled, petting the tiny being before letting it go.

As he turned around he noticed the grave faces of all those around him.

"They're probably wondering what you did." Harry whispered again, wondering, probing the other mind for the answer. An answer he got fairly easy considering Hadrian offered it to him for free.

"Should I tell them to sod off?"

"Probably not a good idea, you going to meet him?"

"Yeah, don't worry you'll love him."

"And you'll hate his appearance." The soft snicker made Hadrian shake his head. Wondering what the gods had in mind when they sent him here.

As he refocused, again, on the room he noticed that the red headed woman had finally came out of her stupor, reversing the effect of the silence charm. Hadrian found it oddly ironic that he reversed it on her own person, leaving Ronald to fend for himself.

"You're not letting him just, just leave like that to meet that maniac are you?!" She all but screamed, and Hadrian wanted nothing more than to silence her again.

"Of course no Molly, I am sorry Mr. Snape but you must not leave the premises of the school, it's too dangerous, not to mention we still have to hear your story..."

TBC...  
Questions? Review and I shall answer them! Maybe...


	4. Chapter 4

I'm not gonna bore you explaining why this chapter took so long to come out. Life happened, enough said. We can only hope the next one won't take as long. Chapter un-betaed. Still waiting for someone to manifest about it! (edit: fixed some mistakes!)

**Ch. 04 – Interaction and Observation.**

It had been a few hours since Hadrian had told his life's story (even if he did omit most of it). It was twilight already and for some reason Madam Pomphrey wouldn't let him go, even if he did assure her that he was fine, he wasn't hurting and he wasn't confused. He was sharing a mind with Harry after all and his counterpart wasn't sleeping nor silenced. Still she didn't let him go.

He learned how the Weasleys were still in friendly terms with the Snapes, and how Mrs. Weasley considered him like her 7th son, why he still had a friendship going on with Ron, despite the jealous fit last year (that, in his own reality, made Hadrian distance himself from the Weasleys in general). And why Hermione still thought like a book.

It had started the moment Hadrian had looked at Albus and said 'No, I'm sorry headmaster but I will be meeting Tom, we need to talk after all.'. The old man looked a little put out to be talked to like that, and, showing his true colours, had promptly put a spell on Hadrian to tell him where he was at all times, his only explanation was that it was necessary 'For the greater good.'

Hadrian snorted, 'Greater Good' indeed.

And then, while the rest of the spectators left, he was tortured by Hermione as the girl explained, in excruciating detail, why one should not contradict the headmaster. Within' fifteen minutes of her speech, Hadrian snapped, reminding the girl that he was not, in fact, her gullible friend and that he would remove her tongue if she didn't stop talking like a mindless book.

Of course, she had run out of the hospital wing with tears overflowing her eyes. Not that it bothered him, mind.

Now he was locked in the infirmary, with no one to talk to besides Harry and waiting for the tingling in his skin, which was a signal for his love's magic, one he never realized he missed until it was gone. He sighed, might as well talk to little Harry.

He closed his eyes, picturing his Father's study. Laying down on the hospital's bed, it looked like he was mere asleep, not talking to this other version of himself and waiting for a visit.

He sat by the fire, looking at where Harry was looking through the books, his memories. He gave the kid a smile, before startling him out of his thoughts.

"So, Harry, what are you up to in there?"

The other boy startled, dropping the book and accidentally opening in a page containing a picture of Hadrian and Tom making love, they both blushed as picture-Hadrian took picture-Tom in his mouth, even without sound they could easily imagine the picture's gasp, hands grasping the other boy's head lower as he continued to thrust in and out of picture-Hadrian's mouth. The movements erratic as the older one reached climax.

Harry blushed even harder as he looked away from the book and directly into Hadrian's eyes, the kind green eyes that were currently laughing at him.

"S-sorry, I just wanted to know."

"Know... what?"

"Why you like, you know, him." he stated timidly, picking up the book and putting it back in its place.

"We're soulbonded Harry, it means we belong to each other." The elder teen shrugged, looking at the semi-transparent red line tied on his pinky finger, no one could touch the line besides Hadrian and Tom.

"Soulbonded?"

"Soulbonded, means our souls match, like puzzle pieces, making a bigger picture." Hadrian picked another book, and, pulling Harry with him towards the couch, begun to look over at the pictures, both bonded wizards seemed much younger, Harry guessed they were, at most, eleven.

"It doesn't even have to be sexual like my relationship with Tom, as far as I can tell allies, friends, even formal acquaintances would be just as good. It just means that in whatever you two do, you will succeed because you compliment each other in body, mind, soul, magic and lifeforce."

"Lifeforce?"

"Means your lives are connected, as in, you live, he lives, you die, he dies. And vice-versa."

Hadrian shrugged, skipping through the pictures at a fast pace, not letting Harry see one in specific, least he saw another intimate picture between his love and him. He stopped near the middle of the album, staring at a particular picture. His first meeting with Tom.

The picture showed both Hadrian and Tom glaring at each other.

"This was when we first met. Plainly said, it was dislike at first sight. When dad brought Tom home, he thought my parents were adopting him, imagine his surprise when it was not adoption since the couple already had a son, it was just father doing what his instincts told him to do."

Harry interrupted before he could continue with the story. "I thought soulbonded people couldn't hate each other."

Hadrian stared at him curiously before shaking his head. "No, we can hate, loath and even hurt our soulbonded." He sighed, giving a tug at the tiny string before looking at Harry. "Being soulbonded to someone means that you share power, magic, mind and lifeforce Harry, making you more powerful and with a wider core than normal wizards, but really, you don't have to actually like the person you're soulbonded with. Of course, it helps, and it helps a lot mind but you don't really have to be anything other than distant allies if you'd like."

The elder wizard grimaced looking at the glare picture Tom was sending his counterpart. It had been a long time since he had seen that. He cleared his throat, starting the tale again.

"So, we did not like each other. I thought my parents were sending me away and putting me in an orphanage, thought they would change me for the handsome boy on my doorstep." he snorted turning the pages. "Tom thought it should be him in my place, that mum and dad should have adopted him, and not have me as their son."

"Anyway, as you can see from the winter clothes, it was the beginning of December when dad bought Tom home, it would be another seven months before we got to Hogwarts. Worst seven months of my life. Tom and I fought, literally, all the time. It was the time that both of us got our first spanking too, for being naughty."

Hadrian stopped for a second, looking at the red string in his finger and tugging at it. Again. He was ready to go and meet his love.

"Well, the animosity lasted the seven months until Hogwarts, and continued until late October. It was Samhain, and I was deeply upset over something Tom had said to me. About mum liking him better or some nonsense like that. So, I was away hidden in an alcove behind one of the tapestries in the castle when our DA teacher came running yelling about a horde of Sollefixies(1) invading the castle. Apparently, someone had taken off the physical wards against the creatures. Anyway, while they were doing the headcount someone noticed I wasn't at the table. Dad said he panicked when he noticed I wasn't there."

The boy smiled fondly at the memory, his dad hugging him tight in front of everyone. It rarely happened and he relished the moments that were so far and few in between.

"Well, it was then that people noticed that Tom and I had a connection of sorts. I can't remember much of that night though. From what I gathered by talking with dad and Tom, the horde of Sollefixies found me since I was practising magic and as you know, they follow the scent of magic. Anyway, I guess I launched spells at them and they got mad, since, when the professors got there the leader of the horde was preparing to eat away at my core."

The elder boy shivered at the thought, to have his magic eaten away, it was worse than the Dementor's kiss. In his mind at least.

"Tom said that he could feel a terror that wasn't his own and when dad went out to find me, he followed behind. I don't know how they got there in time, but they did, dad and the headmaster had to physically shield me from them as Tom tried to get my core back to work." He sighed, looking around, searching for his love or a sign that he was near by.

"Anyway, after that night things got better between us. We stopped fighting, mostly anyway, while we rarely got together to hang out, we studied, and we argued the whole way how to make something better, it started with spells and how to write an essay, in the end, we were arguing how to make our world a better place to live."

"And... how did you two get together? As a couple?" he young boy asked, unconsciously snuggling up to Hadrian.

"At the end of third year, after the finals... well, I'll let you see it okay?" he smiled, turning to a particular picture of the boys at the edge of the forbidden forest, tapping it with his fingers he let Harry revive the memory on his own. He had lived through it, there was no need to see it again.

Specially since it made butterflies fly in his stomach and one just could not meet a dark lord with butterflies flying around!

_Harry looked around, he recognized the forbidden forest a few meters away, the sky a bit cloudy with promise of rain to come. He turned left, seeing the two boys within hearing distance and listening to their new argument._

"_For Merlin's sake Harry, the second question could not have been that! A rune spirit is different from a ghost and-"_

"_I didn't say they weren't different Thomas! I'm saying that there's different ways a rune spirit could be bound to earth!" The exasperated voice came from the green-eyed child as he gazed into the royal blue eyes of his future love. "Anyway, what was question number five? I'm not sure I got everything right for that one."_

_The clearly elder boy sighed, the book lay open on his lap as he tried to take his eyes off the other boy. Harry could read a bit of confusion and annoyance directed at the other teen. _

"_Five was... 'Write the main differences between werewolves, animal shapeshifters and a wizard/witch under the anima potion and how to recognize them'"_

_And so it went, Harry watched with rapid attention as the boys argued back and forth over the answers of the DADA test feeling a bit of envy at the easiness between them, maybe that was why he noticed the small touches, the entwined legs and the almost easy going smile Riddle showed the Snape heir, a smile he had a feeling was just for him._

_Too caught up in the subtleties of the relationship Harry missed the beginning of the serious argument only registering the random phrase along the lines of a brain being too addled with potion fumes before Riddle was kissing Hadrian, maybe to shut him up?_

_He watched as the lips locked for a solid minute, neither boy knowing how to properly kiss and both clearly too shocked to move along, not at all like the other kisses Harry saw in Hadrian's mind library. Tom Riddle with his eyes closed in concentration, Hadrian with wide open eyes._

_It was with even more shock that they both moved back at the same time, staring at the other's eyes. It was Riddle who spoke first._

"_I... I'm... uh, I, I kissed you"_

_The other, even more shocked boy nodded, blinking rapidly. "You did."_

"_I'm... sorry?"_

_Hadrian nodded once, before hiding behind a book and mumbling something_

"_Uh... what?" Harry was definitely amused as the eloquent boy was simply lost for words in the face of life-changing events._

_With the tips of his ear going a very familiar shade of red Hadrian cleared his throat, his mumble a bit more clear than before._

"_Don't be, I... that is to say I uh... liked it" by the end of the very small phrase Harry could see even a part of the boy's neck going that very same shade of red. Riddle wasn't much better. And in a move of what Severus would call Gryffindorish foolishness he got closer to the other teen, whispering something and nodding in accordance to something before kissing the younger boy again. Just a quick peck, but enough for the teens._

Harry still had that image burned behind his eyelids when he found himself in Hadrian's library again.

X-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Tom stared at the castle ahead. In the twilight it looked both beautiful and scary.

"A moving force all on its own." he whispered to the still air around him.

This Hogwarts was different from the castle of his own Reality, still full of power and hidden doors certainly, but no longer Home. This magic, instead of welcoming him as it should, repelled him as it never did on that other land. It called him Murderer, Traitor and Power Hungry Fool.

But no matter, no matter where he was, in which Reality he was in, he was still Heir and his will Hogwarts would obey.

With a hissed 'Open' the heavy iron gate swung open without protest and Tom touched the outer wards surrounding the huge propriety with a tenderness known to none except his Hadrian.

"Worry not my dear. We'll lift this taint from you. That wayward headmaster has held your wards for far too long" he sighed as he felt Voldemort stir in the back of his mind and snorted. "No wonder my counterpart is highly volatile and quite insane!"

"_What do you mean?" _Came the interested hiss inside his mind.

"Nothing to worry about as of now... I'll tell you and your Harry after I've seen my cariad.(2)"

"_Cariad? How interesting!"_ Tom could picture the smug smile on Voldemort's face.

"Well, he is..." he shrugged, before disillusioning himself and addressing the castle again. "You will not tell your headmaster that I am here."

In response, he just received a shift in the wards.

He would just have to take that reaction as a 'yes'. "I wonder what you did to her to get a reaction like that" he muttered to himself, feeling Voldemort grow unusually quiet. Specially since the man had an opinion about everything and everyone.

He briefly wondered if his Harry found him half as insufferable as he found Voldemort.

Tom looked at the snow covered grounds, thinking that, for a school full of students it surely was deserted at this time of the day. _"But then"_ he thought _"The cold could have driven them all away."_

"_Or"_ Voldemort interrupted, _"your cariad might have warned everybody you would be coming"_ Tom idly noted the venom with which Voldemort said 'cariad', but let it go, for the moment.

"Oh I'm sure he did! It's the sort of thing that he would find funny" he smiled to himself. The action alone feeling quite awkward in this foreign face.. He could tell Voldemort didn't smile much.

In fact, the man didn't do much of anything when it came to facial expressions besides snarl, hiss and be generally angry with anything within sight.

"Ever heard of economy of movement and manipulation through facial expressions little Half-blood?" He could just picture the sneer on Voldemort's face as he spoke, Tom shock his head. So much wasted potential.

"There's a difference between manipulation and the inability to do some simple facial expressions Voldemort" Tom easily silenced the reply as they got close to the main door of the ancient castle. Didn't the man know anything? He found himself disappointed with this version of him. How could he have fallen so far in this reality? How could he have lost his most important feature?

"Do quiet down, we're going in"

X-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

By the hospital wing, Hadrian gave a sigh of relief when he felt that familiar caress of magic getting in touch with his own. His Tom was, finally, home!

He felt the slight shift in the wards as his love entered castle grounds and, knowing instinctively where he would go, and without caring about Little Harry being trapped inside his memories, he got out of his trance-like state. Swiftly getting out of bed he grabbed the wand from the nightstand, trigging Pomphrey's (or rather, Dumbledore's) alarms.

"Shit!"

With the faint buzzing in the air, signalling the triggered alarms, he knew there was only one chance and one way to get out there.

He just hopped the Headmaster had forgotten to put up wards against his kind of magic. He had no doubt that those wards were put there specially for him.

X-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"-nd she had the gall to dare imply that I was no teacher! Well, not with those words, no! She-"

It was dinner time in the Great Hall, as with any other day the students filled up the great hall with chatter, laughter and an increasing amount of noise. Dumbledore was just glad that the teacher's table had a special silencing ward around it. He loved those children, he really did. But sometimes, an old man needed his silence.

This was one of those times.

And dear Minerva, dear that she was, would not shut up!

Oh Albus knew all about the quest for revenge on that Umbridge woman, the pink menace! He knew she was on a warpath against Harry and him. Knew she was just a lapdog of the Ministry trying to get a hold over his school...

But that was no reason for Minerva to go on and on and on about the woman!

"And poor Harry! If I'm not mistaken she's going to talk to him next, it doesn't matter if he's in the hospital or not! And about that! What happened to Harry, Albus? Is he sick? Poppy refused to tell me."

_'More like you didn't give her a chance to speak!'_ he thought, feeling only a bit guilty for thinking ill of one of his colleagues.

He was just about to answer when he felt a disturbance on the alarm he placed around Harry's bed in the infirmary. So the boy had woken up, and was probably going to meet Voldemort. Albus refused to believe for even one second that Hadrian Snape's Tom was in any way different from Harry Potter's Voldemort. A soul can't change that much. It wasn't the natural flow of things.

Placing the silverware on his nearly empty plate, he wiped his mouth before excusing himself from the table. "Do excuse me for a moment my dear, the wards have just notified me of a slight disturbance."

"Is it... Is it You-Know-Who?"

"Oh not, not at all, probably one of the children getting near the Forbidden Forest, nothing worrisome." He smiled kindly at her before exiting the great hall, rushing to the Hospital Wing and mentally counting the exits he had covered.

The one-armed witch, the whoop willow, that passage that lead to Honeyducks, the fake wall near the Ravenclaw door that went into an underground passage and into the Hog's Head. He soldier that worked as a timed portkey to Diagon Alley, The entrance to the Chamber of Secrets.

Yes, all covered!

X-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Pulling the door open and walking through the full corridors was an experience in and of itself. Usually the students and ghosts alike parted ways when he walked by them, often accompanied by Harry of course. Now it was like a sea of human flesh, sweat and magic.

He hated it.

He supposed part of it was because of Voldemort's tainted presence on his mind, its influence making him want to slaughter those people in cold blood.

Tom stopped before the doors of the great hall, standing out of the way he waited for the Headmaster to pass by, oh, he knew Harry wasn't near by, probably by the fourth floor or on the fifth, the hospital wing. As the door closed after the old man and he went out of sight, Tom dropped the invisibility charm staring at the oak doors, his focus on the golden handle baring the Hogwarts shield.

Still unsure if the ritual would work – however mild of a ritual it was – he produced a small bronze knife from the folders of his robes, slashing across his palm and touching the wards protecting the great hall.

"I, Thomas Marvolo Riddle, blood heir of Salazar Demetrius Slytherin, inherited heir of Helga Amanda Hufflepuff and Godric Lucius Gryffindor, demand entrance into the Original Chambers of Hogwarts, as is my right by blood and by magic. Made true by Lady Destiny herself."

He breathed a sigh of relief when the door handle turned from the bright golden to an old bronze colour, the Hogwarts shield still there, almost faded, due to the passage of time. Grasping the handle he pushed the door open, taking a few seconds to look around the round room, the furniture covered in white sheets for protection against dirt and dust, the still air smelling like long-dead carcasses, the farthest wall covered in old books and protected by ancient glass. In the middle, a large round table with twelve chairs, and three thrones. Tom knew those were thrones, he had uncovered them himself in his own reality. One for the King and the other two for his advisers.

"_What is this place?"_ came the awe-filled voice inside his head.

"This, my dear counterpart, is The Original Chambers of Hogwarts. I take it you've never been here before?" There was no need to answer, Tom knew he hadn't. If he had, Voldemort wouldn't be inside like this.

"_No, I've always been sure that the Chamber of Secrets was the only thing left behind from their time. I've never thought-"_

"Never thought the other founders had it in them to build something as impressive as Salazar? They were the best of their time **Tom**" he stressed the name, his patience thinning by the second "You didn't really think that the only thing they did was build a castle and fill it with children, did you? Anyone can do that!"

Annoyed, he once again silenced Voldemort, quickly casting a cleaning charm to banish the layers of dust before allowing himself to feel the relief of his cariad's presence nearby.

All of that time near the Malfoy Patriarch had left him itching to touch, hold, kiss and fuck his Hadrian to oblivion. He wanted to cleanse that sickly, twisted presence from his soul. To take away the feeling of oiliness Lucius left behind. It just confirmed his theory, no matter the universe, a Malfoy was bad to anyone's health, specially Tom's.

How **Tom** could stand to be near that sort of presence for so long was beyond him.

Sighing he stared at his right hand for half a second before tugging viciously on the little red string attached to his pinky finger.

Harry, his Harry, was taking far too long for his tastes.

X-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Hadrian had just closed the last window when he heard footsteps approaching the door. It was either the Headmaster or Madam Pomphrey.

Either one could soil his plans, the first doing more damage than the later.

Waving his wand over himself he managed to whisper the incantation just before the Headmaster broke into the room.

"_Factus Umbra"_ (3)

Moving into the first layer of shadows glided, as quickly as possible, to the great hall, faintly listening to the headmaster shouting after him.

The trip took no more than a few minutes and with barely a thought he dismissed the family spell. Hadrian smiled as he felt Tom's magical signature on the Great Hall's wards. Touching them he felt the warmth of his beloved, and closing his eyes, with his heart beating twice as fast, he repeated the words Thomas taught him a year ago.

"I, Hadrian Antares Snape, request entrance into the Original Chambers of Hogwarts. With permission from the Elder Heir I stand before thee, awaiting judgement of worthiness."

Hadrian felt the wards shift as it allowed his passage and he entered.

TBC...

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So! A few things happened here, but I promisse the next chapter the Plot will thicken even more. And I promise the appearance of Hadrian's father, Severus Tobias Snape.

(1)Animal the author invented. It eats away magic and in extreme cases a person's magical core, eats any spell directed at it and has a steel-like hide but beneath it is quite vulnerable, created and inbreed by muggle Christian priests during the witch hunts. Looks like a mummified version of a human inbreed with a cat. With deceivingly look-like paper-like skin. Sharp retractable fangs and black eyes (as in, all black, no white part). The size of an adult Rottweiler. Singular: Sollefix, Plural: Sollefixies.

(2) Cariad – Welsh world (pronounced kárree ad), meaning Darling, dear one, beloved. **Cariad** is the strongest word for "love". If it is full-blown head-over-heels it is "cariad".

(3)Literally, To Become Shadow


End file.
